Not Exactly Friendship
by Level1 CSI Stoaks
Summary: Shared with Janika. Janika meets Tanzi after being gone for two weeks and everything if diffrent. Odd stares at Tanz constantly and Janika hates her new nickname 'Nika'. Tanz screws everything up and Janika can't save it.What does Tanz do?PG4 Tanz's Slang
1. Meetings

**1: The Meeting**

Janika grabbed her two duffels and nearly ran up the steps toward the dorms. The whole world was perfect! She was in harmony with the universe and could hardly wait to tell the gang about her vacation!

The door opened just before Janika reached it and she careened into someone leaving. The dark-haired girl found herself lying on top of a weird-looking teenager. "I didn't know the circus was in town," she laughed.

The girl dressed completely in blue extracted herself from the mess and looked down at the other. "I'm sorry _too_."

"Okay, okay, I apologize. Could you help me out here?" The strange kid picked up a bag. "Thanks. You don't look familiar. Are you new?"

"I transferred from America a couple weeks ago. The name's Tanzanite, but most people call me Tanzi." She pushed back her very, _very_ long blue ponytail.

"You're from the U.S.? Me too. Let me guess, your favorite music is the Blues."

Tanz chortled. "Nope. Oldies."

She rolled her eyes as they tugged the bags up the stairwell. "Oh. Well, the name's Janika. I—"

"_Nika!?_ Oh, I know _all_ about you! Your friends told me everything. I can't believe I didn't recognize you from your picture. Well, they never said exactly when you were getting back, but I suppose I should have expected it. You know you have a funky accent, right? I can tell you're American a mile away."

She tried to keep her cool. Just one more flight up the stairs. "Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"Well if it's not then I'd consider it a pretty lousy insult. Anyway, the gang is really neat. I especially like Odd. He is _so_ sweet! I swear he's, like, just too spunky for words, you know? I mean, you just expect him to be cool the second you meet him."

The dark-haired girl tried not to be rude, but the harmony of the evening was being leached dry. She grabbed her duffel out of Tanzi's hand and plastered on a fake smile. "I can make it to my room from here, thanks. Maybe I'll see you later."

She nodded amiably. "Of course. We'll probably be spending a lot of time together."

"Great. Gotta go." Janika made a break for it and left Tanz in a cloud of dust. She barely made it inside her room before she imploded. That girl was so...bizarre! Talk about an idiosyncrasy. She definitely had a blue fetish.

The dark-haired teen unpacked quickly and then went upstairs. Maybe Odd or Ulrich was home. She knocked and the blonde boy opened the door. Her heart fluttered slightly as he gave her a warm smile.

"Janika, you're back!" he cried. "Come on in."

"Thanks. I have a lot of stuff to tell you guys." She walked in and stopped in her tracks as Tanzi's figure came into view. The girl was sprawled across Odd's bed, feet in the air, giggling incessantly. "Uh, what are you doing here?"

"I _told_ you we'd be seeing more of each other."

Odd sat down beside her and motioned to a chair for Janika. "I take it you two have met. That's great! Now you said you had good news?"

"Uh...no. I just wanted to tell...to talk with the whole gang, you know. I spent two weeks at home and a lot of stuff happened. Just thought you guys might want to know about it, but I guess not." She picked at a stray thread in her shirt.

Odd looked a little nervous. "Well, we're really glad you're back. Me and Tanzi were going to join the others at the cafeteria later on. We wanted to discuss a matter with you when you got back from your trip."

Something in his voice made her look up sharply. He was never vague like this without good reason. "Is it about the _place?_" she asked casting a wary eye Tanzi's way.

The shorter girl smiled jovially and spoke up. "You mean Lyoko?"

"Odd you didn't! Did you?" Janika asked him, fearing the worst. This couldn't be happening!

Odd gave a dopey smile and gazed at the one beside him, star-struck. "Yeah." He was oblivious to everything except Tanzi as she plopped a huge kiss on his forehead.

With that she bounced off the bed screaming, "Lunchtime!" Tanz ran out of the room dancing idiotically. "Lunch, lunch! My favorite subject! _LUNCH!!!_"

"I don't even want to know." Janika stared at the open door, giving Odd a napkin, "You have blue lipstick on your forehead."

"Uh huh," Odd wiped it off as he was running after the prancing blue girl.

"Odd, wait!" But the blonde kid was gone.


	2. The Other

**2: The Other**

Janika decided to follow Tanzi and confront her about the whole thing, but Odd was with her. She finally gave up the ghost and forced herself to face them in the cafeteria.

She spoke quietly, surrounded by chatting people in the lunchroom. "How do you know about Lyoko?"

Tanzi looked bashful as she was stuffing a spoonful of Jell-O into her mouth. "Actually, I've been going there ever since I got here. It's really cool, don't you think? I've never even played a _game_ that sensational! Talk about keen. Whew!"

The dark-haired girl was in Odd's face. "What's this all about?"

He looked up from his cupcake, a trifle apprehensive. "Well…I don't want to say anything without the gang here to back me up. I'd rather let them explain it."

"But it was your idea, Odd," Tanzi said a bit too sweetly as she leaned against him. "You grabbed me and dragged me to the factory. Jeremie was all flipping out and you shoved me into the scanner after a two-minute explanation. I thought I was going to die or something, but as soon as I got there…whoa! I've never felt so _alive!_"

She bounced up and down on the chair to emphasize her point. Odd laughed and Janika seethed. "That's wonderful. Excuse me."

With a stony face, she left the cafeteria. She hadn't found out anything. As soon as she'd closed the door behind her, the dark-haired girl fled.

The sky was turning dark and it had started to sprinkle. She found a place to sit and watched the rain come down in torrents. A large oak hardly provided shelter, but she barely noticed her clothes getting soaked through.

Someone touched her arm and she whirled around, ready to let off a stinging remark. "If you think—_Ulrich?_" Janika tried to recover herself. "I wasn't expecting you."

The taller boy nodded. "Welcome back. Odd said you disappeared an hour ago. We've been waiting for you for twenty minutes. I figured I knew where you might be."

Janika stared up at the tree. "Yeah. _You knew _I'd be at the very place where I wait for Odd after school. Tell me why he didn't think about it."

"Odd has a life too." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Just come talk to Tanz. I know you're hiding because she's there."

"Who is she? What business does she have here?"

Ulrich shrugged. "We've been getting to know her recently. I really think she's a good addition to the team. If it hadn't been for her, Aelita never would have shut down the tower."

"What exactly happened?"

"Aelita was being attacked and we got there to help her out. Unfortunately we all got devirtualized. Odd ran back to the school and grabbed the first person he saw."

"Tanzi," Janika said bitterly. "Then she was virtualized and saved the day. I heard that part from the horse's mouth. She's not friends with Millie and Tamiya, is she?"

"She's already been interviewed, Janika. Give it a rest and come on inside before you catch a cold. You're drenched." He guided her back toward the dorms, being sure to keep a good grip on her shoulder. She might bolt at any moment.

"Jere!" Tanz called as she nearly ran into them on her way out of the building. "Oh it's you, Janika." She looked slightly disappointed. "I thought Jere was with you, Ulrich. I just wanted to say Odd and I are going out for a while, so bye!" The other skipped away without a backward glance.

"What the heck was that about?" Janika asked Ulrich.

"Tanz and Odd have been going out since Odd took her to Lyoko." He looked her in the eyes, "And _yes_, she really was that hyper before she met Odd."

"That is _too _scary for words. Like she's loaded on sugar all the time or something." The dark-haired girl turned to him smugly. "Well I don't have to talk to her now, do I?"

"Later, my friend, later." Ulrich patted her shoulder and left. "I'll go find Jeremie."

Later that night Janika was staring into the bathroom mirror. Plain. No makeup or anything. Not even pierced ears. Just plain. She sighed and washed her hands. The door opened and the short girl saw Tanzi's reflection.

"Nika, do you hate me? If Odd is yours I can give him up." She hoped Janika didn't have any claims, but if she did, Tanz was willing to let go for the sake of Aelita. "I'll hand him over if it will help your friendship and save Aelita."

"No, Odd isn't mine, and he wasn't taken before you showed up. I don't know what Aelita has to do with anything, but it's all okay." She raised her eyes to the ceiling and stared grimly at it. "What dorm are you in?"

"541," she replied letting her hair down and inspecting it shrewdly in the mirror.

"Oh bummer," Janika muttered under her breath. "Mine is 542."

"Why is that so bad?" Tanzi wondered as she ran a comb through her long curly tresses.

"Wha-?" Janika coughed.

"I heard you. You kinda suck at keeping your voice down." Without another look in Tanzi's direction Janika ran out of the room. "What did I say?" She shrugged and finished up her hair.

Quetions about Tanzi or Janika should be refered to either Dellimas or One of Nika's stories.


End file.
